By Sar Terver
When the Governing Council of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, approved a sweeping dress code in June 2025, it stirred more than just conversations about fashion. It also triggered a national reckoning over rights, values, and the role of universities in shaping moral standards.
The code, documented in a June 13 internal memo with reference number R/DCA/C/IB/XVI/12/266, outlines sanctions ranging from official warnings to rustication for students whose appearance deviates from a set of “acceptable standards”.
According to the memo, students risk rustication for offences including dreadlocks, sagging trousers, tattoos, crop tops, and “sexually provocative” clothing.
As reported, the institution says the policy is intended to uphold public decency and promote “academic sensibilities” in line with its motto, for learning and culture. Yet, this move has been met with mixed reactions and fierce criticism from students and rights groups.
The Great Ife Students’ Union, in a statement reported by Punch on July 24, rejected the dress code outright, calling it an “archaic” attempt to police appearance. The union, led by President-elect Adelani Oluwatodimu and others, described the sanctions as “harsh,”.
They argued they infringe on fundamental human rights such as freedom of expression and personal liberty guaranteed in Sections 35, 38, and 41 of the Nigerian Constitution.
“This policy threatens students’ freedom of thought, conscience, religion, movement, and protection from discrimination,” the union stated. It also urged the university to reverse the code just as it did in 2023, when a similar policy was rolled back after student protests.
The matter escalated beyond campus. Human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, took to his Facebook page to slam the move, which he said was “one of the most foolish, idle, and unacademic distractions of our time”.
He questioned why higher institutions would prioritize hairstyles and dress codes over research and intellectual freedom, describing such focus as a “clear sign that the soul of the university system is in crisis”.
However, some legal minds see the issue differently. In a telephone interview, human rights lawyer Barrister Callixtus Girgi from Benue State pointed out that Section 45 of the Nigerian Constitution allows certain rights to be restricted in the interest of public morality.
“Yes, students have rights, but those rights are not absolute,” he said. “The university is not just a space for acquiring academic knowledge but also for building character. You can’t claim human rights while harassing others with indecent conduct.”
Indeed, the university administration, responding to the backlash, clarified that the version of the dress code making rounds online was not the authentic document approved by the Council.
According to a statement signed by the Registrar, K. A. Bakare, and quoted in Punch, “Although Council has approved a dress code, what went viral was not the document approved by Council.” The official version, he said, would soon be released to guide implementation.
Meanwhile, legal experts who reviewed the document say the approved code was based on a layered recommendation from the Legal Review Committee. That committee had proposed that minor infractions attract official warnings first, with harsher penalties reserved for repeat offenders. It also cautioned against ambiguous terms like “sexually provocative,” advocating instead for clearer language like “indecent dressing.”
But the debate over what constitutes “indecent” has made enforcement difficult across institutions. In 2019, the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede in Imo State banned short skirts, off-shoulder tops, and ripped jeans. Female students protested the rule, calling it discriminatory.
Similarly, Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, and Abia State Polytechnic faced outrage when they introduced similar policies. Many of these institutions either suspended enforcement or made clarifications to ease tensions.
Yet, the moral panic around student dress persists. On social media, hashtags like #MyStyleMyRight and SayNoToRustication# trend among university circles, especially after viral videos emerged of security personnel harassing students over their appearance.
But some critics argue that universities should be spaces of openness, diversity, and academic freedom, not sites for moral policing.
Education policy analyst Dr. Chukwuemeka Iroanya believes institutions should tread carefully. In the same vein, some students also fear the code could be used as a tool for profiling or oppression.
Nonetheless, the university remains firm in its commitment to “reclaiming ethical standards.” In its internal communication, OAU emphasized that students must not only graduate in academics but also in character.
“It’s about producing total men and women,” one lecturer said on condition of anonymity. “The crisis in society today is proof that education without values is dangerous.”
The clash of ideals continues between modern expression and traditional values, individual liberty and collective identity, legal rights and institutional responsibility. OAU now finds itself at the center of a national conversation about how far Nigerian universities should go in shaping morality.
As Nigerians debate the merits and excesses of the dress code, one thing is clear: OAU has sparked something deeper than a fight over skirts and dreadlocks.
It has opened up a mirror to Nigeria’s social contradictions and the difficult question of what kind of citizens universities should be raising in today’s world.
